The United States of America (USA) announced on Friday that it was expelling two Russian diplomats in retaliation for Moscow's decision last month to expel two Americans.
"In response to Russia's unjustified expulsion of two diplomats from the US Embassy in Moscow, the State Department responded by declaring two officials of the Russian Embassy in the US persona non grata," a State Department spokesman said.
Last month, Russia said it had expelled two American diplomats over communications with Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen who once worked at the US consulate in Vladivostok.
After an earlier reduction in the number of diplomats, Shonov began working at the consulate under contract, and the US announced that he was employed to routinely monitor publicly available Russian media.
Russian authorities arrested him in August on charges of passing classified information to Ukraine.
"The State Department will not tolerate the Russian pattern of mistreatment of our diplomats," the spokesman emphasized.
"The State's decisions send a clear message that unacceptable moves against the officials of our embassy in Moscow will have consequences," the response states.
Relations between the US and Russia have deteriorated sharply since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. The US has said it sees no point in holding high-level talks, except in cases such as prisoner exchanges.
The American diplomatic presence in Russia was significantly reduced even before the war, after the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin limited the employment of local workers. Because of this, Russians often have to apply for US visas in other countries.
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